MLM software is a necessity if your company is a direct selling, network marketing, MLM, or party plan company.  New companies can live without it for only a short while.

The Heart of Your Business

MLM software is the heart of your business and replacing your MLM software is much like a heart transplant.  Like any major operation, the patient must stay alive both during and after the procedure.

Do you want to learn more?  Watch our informative video now.

Knowledge is power.  The more you know, the better software decisions you will make for your company.

Your Company:  Similar But Unique

While similar to other companies, yours and all other direct selling companies are also somewhat unique.

• The sponsoring relationships between your representatives need to be tracked.  This is called genealogy tracking or lineage management.
• Representatives have both personal sales volume and one or more types of group volume, each of which also must be tracked as orders are processed and accepted.
• You need to calculate and pay commissions and bonuses according to the rules of your compensation plan.
• You should provide your representatives with useful information for them to run their businesses.

For these and other reasons, software that can be used to run other businesses isn’t sufficient to run a direct selling business.  As a result, you will need direct selling software.

Direct selling software is used not only to help contain your administrative costs while increasing your efficiency and accuracy but also to provide your sales force with tools to better manage their businesses.

Like a three-legged stool, your business will be supported by three elements:

• Your Products/Services
• Your Opportunity
• Your Information Systems

Direct selling software should include the following functions:

• Representative Enrollment
• Lineage (Genealogy) Management
• Inventory Management
• Order Processing
• Hostess Rewards Program
• Autoship
• Accounts Receivable
• Compensation Plan Calculation
• Contests and Incentives
• Report Writing
• Imports and Exports
• Multi-Currency
• Multi-Language
• Corporate System (Back Office)
• Representative Personal Web Sites (Portal / Intranet / Rep Back Office)

When To Replace Your Software

If you already have MLM software but you’re unhappy, when is it time to replace yours?

It may be time if:

• you believe you have outgrown your software.
• the quality and timeliness of response to your needs have fallen drastically and you see no hope of improvement any time soon
• the needs of your business are not supported adequately by the software you have now, and your software provider can’t give you what you need at a reasonable price, or what you need is not available regardless of the price
• the monthly cost of your current software is no longer affordable and you need a lower cost solution because your business is smaller than it was, or smaller than you expected it to be by now

Have you considered perhaps that maybe the problem isn’t your software provider?  The relationship with your software company is like a marriage.  Both sides need to do their part to keep the relationship strong and healthy.

Are you doing all you can to be a good software client?

Premarital-Like Counseling

Before you get hitched to a new software company, know that you don’t need to make this decision alone.  Sylvina Consulting can be your confidant and advisor in selecting new MLM software.  No software company pays us referral fees.

If you need additional help to manage the relationship with your current provider or with a new one, we also offer monthly implementation consulting.

It’s Like A Heart Transplant

Whenever a direct selling company decides it must replace its MLM software, it will undergo a heart transplant.  While the goal of the transition is to obtain a healthier heart, this is a delicate operation and a risky procedure.

If you are switching providers, do all you can not to rush the process, unless you have no choice because the old heart has failed and is no longer pumping.  Remember, the patient must be kept alive during the transplant.

For more information about MLM Software, go to MLM Software Advice.

Data Conversion

If you are thinking about changing MLM software platforms, one of the topics you’ll need to address is “data conversion.”

Data conversion is a series of steps to bring information from one system into another.  The first step is to decide exactly what to convert.

In this article, I will share with you the questions I ask my clients to help them with their data conversion decisions, but first, let’s start with data conversion basics.

Data Conversion 101

Each piece of your data is stored in a field, and each field belongs to a file or a table.  A group of fields related to the same person or transaction forms a record or a row in a table.

The effort required to perform a data conversion is less impacted by the number of records or rows than it is by the number of files to be converted.

What this means for you is that when it comes to data conversions, you should be thinking about which files or tables to convert first, and then decide how far back to convert the data from these files or tables.

Data Conversion Questions

Life of Old System

How long will you be able to access the old system after you go live with the new one?

If your access to the old system will end shortly after you go live with the new system, you must convert all of the historical data that you will ever need now.

On the other hand, if your old system will be available to you for a year or longer, your need to convert data is much less because you can look up old transactions when you need them.

As time marches forward, your need to view old data will be less every day.

Old Data Needed

How much of the old data will you need in the new system?

The answer depends on your specific compensation plan and the status of your contests and incentives at the time of going live.

Seamless Reporting Over Time

Do you want to be able to report data together from the new system and the old system?

This is important if you wish to be able to analyze recruiting, sales, and compensation plan performance over time which includes the period before you go live with the new system.

System Compatibilities

How many of the new system’s files can we populate with old data?

Every MLM software system has its unique aspects, some of which are related to the storage of data.  This means that some of your old data may not have a place in the new system.

Likewise, your new system may track data you don’t have in the old system.  These system data storage differences may affect your data conversion decisions.

Data Conversion Approach

Will you convert all files that can be converted from the old system, or will you convert only the files that are determined to be absolutely necessary?

Conclusion

Whenever a direct selling company decides it must replace its MLM software, it will undergo a heart transplant.  While the goal of the transition is to obtain a healthier heart, this is a risky procedure.  The patient must be kept alive during the transplant!

Your operations as a network marketing, party plan or social selling company are administered by people and software.  Together, they form the infrastructure that keeps your business rolling down the track.  If you’re struggling to keep it all together, don’t struggle alone.  Instead, contact an experienced and competent MLM consultant.  The experts at Sylvina Consulting can be there to help you.  Helping companies like yours is what we do best.

Last, But Certainly Not Least

To help you on your journey, request our free 25-page eBook, MLM Software: What You Need To Know.

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